*General Manager of Trump Doonbeg, Joe Russell.
EYES of the world will be on Doonbeg and West Clare over the next four days with the Amgen Irish Open teeing off and the arrival of US President Donald Trump.
An attendance of 80,000 is expected in Doonbeg over the course of the four days of the Amgen Irish Open running from Thursday to Sunday’s finale where US President Donald Trump will be among the spectators at the eighteenth hole.
Such attention will also include protests with the General Manager of Trump Doonbeg insisting that demonstrators are entitled to express their rights but appealed to them not to interfere with the golf.
Executive Head Chef at Trump International Golf Links & Hotel, Ireland, the Clahanes based Robbie Nolan is expected to serve up between 10,000 to 12,000 meals at the five star resort for the tournament.
500 volunteers will be on duty across the golf course to ensure the smooth running of the Irish Open which returns to Clare for the second time in seven years.
General Manager of Trump Doonbeg, Joe Russell has been busy putting the finishing touches on preparations to welcome not just a major golf tournament but also the US President.
Speaking to The Clare Echo on Monday morning, Joe said there was a “nervous excitement” in the air. “Everybody is very excited and proud to have it, we’re very proud to be in this community, we wouldn’t all be talking to each other were it not for the people of Doonbeg or the village of Doonbeg, many of whom were in the hall last Thursday night when there was a community presentation, it is testament to their vision thirty years ago that we are all sitting here now enjoying the fruits of that as we speak. The engagements that we have are with An Garda Síochána, the White House, the Secret Service, it is almost two events happening at the same time so we have to focus on both and we’re doing that”.
Spotlight of the world’s media zones in on Doonbeg this week, bringing with it a glorious opportunity for exposure. “The stakeholders in both events have largely different priorities, that said DP World Tour know they can’t run their event particularly up around eighteen without considering the President or the President’s family, we have to manage both, the Gardaí have to manage both to some degree too, it is what it is and that is what we’re paid for, to sort these things out, we’re problem solvers, it is working through it, there’s no point feeling sorry for yourself, the rewards are a global audience, the eyes of the world are on us and the field is absolutely class with some of the golfers, why would you not want to be part of that. We’re coming off the Walker Cup in Lahinch which was just spectacular, you’ve got to give them great kudos because they did a bloody great job up there”.
Presence of the US President is likely to result in protests, the General Manager acknowledged. He was hopeful their actions would not impact on the Irish Open. “When you have a protest group you have people who typically inform the Gardaí that they want to protest, they are entitled to protest, far be it for me to say that they can’t protest, as long as protests are in an orderly manner then nobody has any difficulty with that, it is when it strays beyond that and it begins to impact the actual tournament, the 80,000 people turning up over four days, they didn’t do anything wrong, they are not responsible for what people are protesting for, I don’t think they should be impacting by that, they are travelling from all over Ireland, from overseas and have paid their money to look at a golf tournament so they should have the opportunity to enjoy that too, I think that is only fair”.
On the spin-off that Trump Doonbeg could hope for in the aftermath of hosting The Irish Open, the Templemore native stated, “We’re primarily at full occupancy during the summer, we have our off-season period, the thing about the brand that is Trump Ireland Doonbeg is further reinforced, it is even more recognised, we’ve sold a lot more memberships this year off the back of the Irish Open, our green fee budget is made off the back of the exposure we’ve got off but our advanced bookings for next year are full until the Ryder Cup but our advanced bookings for next year are very strong and into 2028, there is no such thing as bad PR”.
Since 2003 he has served as General Manager of the five-star resort. Hosting The Irish Open is one of the many highpoints over the last twenty three years, he admitted. “We’ve had some great highpoints and visitors over the years, we don’t talk about who comes here and that is what people appreciate about Doonbeg, part of our discussions with our teams is phones off and no social media, respect our guests because at the end of the day the golfers or personalities that are saying are our guests, it is our job to look after them, it is our job to focus and making sure they get what it is that we are renown for, to play or see great golf but also receive good hospitality”.
Joe said he was not surprised with the quality of the field teeing off in Doonbeg this week. “I’m not surprised because the Trump organisation has good contacts within the world of golf, we have our own too in Doonbeg, there is a lot of curiosity around the golf course, we’ve had some of the field earlier this year playing themselves to familiarise themselves with the golf course, our time has come, for the community, the club and the staff, people deserve what is happening now and I wish everybody well because it is all about everybody, it is all about us”.
Russell’s selection as Grand Marshall for this year’s St Patrick’s Day parade underlines his standing within the local community where he has relocated to full-time from Ballybeg on the outskirts of Ennis. “The village has a track record of success when it comes to organising their own affairs, the village festival is going to be on but we’ve also had the jazz festival, the drama festival, a lot of expertise and capabilities are down there so what delights me and I am living in this community now is to see how we all work together, we run three buses down to the village every night, hopefully all the food and beverage consumed down there will come back up here. As it relates to this event, the people staying for this event, the people that came and stayed for the Walker Cup, the people who stay the whole time, it is how that all goes out into West Clare, that ripple effect is very important, we’re a tourism destination not Trump Doonbeg but West Clare, we’ve a lot of valuable assets in West Clare. People bemoan what you don’t have but you can’t sell what you don’t have, sell what you have and sell it strong, there’s only all pluses associated with this”.
He was hopeful the Park and Ride system operating would ensure the village of Doonbeg benefits and is not detached from the activity at Trump Doonbeg. “There is a park and ride that goes right down through the village, there is an expressway bus going through the village, there’s also buses lined up from Cooraclare, Quilty and Kilkee, we have three buses that their job is to go up and down to the village at night, they are outside the cordon so from the security standpoint there is an inner cordon, we take them to that point and have another outside cordon that they are going up and down, we hope they fill the place and empty their pockets down there”.
Sitting in his office adjacent to the make-shift players lounge, Joe shared what he hoped the legacy of the Irish Open in Doonbeg would be. “I want everybody to look at that golf course and appreciate the efforts of our greenkeeping team, many of whom are local, when we are all asleep in the morning and the players and spectators are all off elsewhere these guys are working, they are up at 4am every morning to make this golf course the best it can be. We have a superintendent and a number two to him, their attention to detail is unparalleled. I really want for the golf course to get what it deserves and the European Tour have said it is amazing, some people remarked that our fairways are better than our greens, we’ve taken on volunteer greenkeepers too, we’ve taken on forty five greenkeepers from other golf clubs in Scotland and Ireland, they are assisting the team, we have between seventy to eight greenkeepers out there at the moment.
“Trump Doonbeg as a destination for its hospitality, its welcome, together with us in the village, we see the village as part of our offering, when we go and sell this premises overseas we talk twenty five percent about here and seventy five percent about West Clare, overseas guests know where they are going and they want to know what they can do in the area. We want to really promote West Clare and for it to get further exposure for its beauty on an international stage, we’ve people staying here, they call it coolcations, they leave humid weather and we’ve seen the heat in France, Portugal and Spain, we’ve picked up an awful lot of business on the back of coolcations, we just have to appreciate the beautiful space”.
